Tiny fighter
Here’s the original prototype for the F-117. It turned out it didn’t have enough room to carry things like bombs, bullets, and fuel, so they scaled it up a little. Part of my famous Machinery series.
Lots going on, but nothing particularly interesting. But when did dullness ever stop me from discussing my deep thoughts?
So let’s have a look. I finally gave up on Ubuntu’s wretched Wifi handling. I tried the most recent two releases and neither one can do networking worth a darn (please excuse the bad language – I’m really angry here). They can’t handle fixed IP addresses. They can’t keep Wifi connected after a reboot without the user retyping his WPA password. They can’t reliably announce their presence on a network. And they behave differently every time you start the computer. I’ve had it.
And to top it off, the people who are kind enough to provide free Internet-based help are unfortunately not very helpful, as a general rule. With several notable exceptions, they’re either impatient to the point of nastiness or intentionally vague and incomplete in their explanations (as if to say “If you can’t figure the details out yourself, you’re not worthy of Linux”). Thanks for what little you’re willing to do guys, but don’t bother.
And I was so happy with Ubuntu Server’s performance. For one thing, it was three releases old. And for another, I did all my configuration via the text-based configuration files – as opposed to the constantly upgraded but never quite functional GUI-based config programs. Sigh.
So I bit the bullet and installed Windows 2000. It took a good four hours to install, update, load drivers, and configure. But it works right.
That was a pretty bitter pill to swallow. I’ve long been a pretty staunch Linux partisan and I’m still sold on it as a server, but it needs to do networking right, for crying out loud.
On the other hand, pretty much everything else worked right. I just couldn’t stay connected to the network.
Anyway. Loyal Reader Number One is working on configuration issues of his own. The new MacBook is working great, of course. But he went to download iWork ’08 this afternoon and discovered that Apple no longer offers it as a download, since they rolled iWork ’09 this week. I need to rip my disk when I get home tonight so he can copy it.
I wonder how people who just downloaded the software and then bought it online are supposed to reinstall.
Today’s good Apple news: Picasa is now available for OS X. I’m installing it tonight. Maybe LRN1 will want to install it and use Picasaweb to share his Mac unboxing pictures. Maybe.
That’s it for today. I’m planning to install the terabyte drive this evening. Wish me luck.
See you tomorrow.